Grace and I have been talking about keeping honey bees for a couple years, and we finally got serious about it this winter; did some reading and attended a couple of presentations. I enrolled in a 6-week bee keeping class that started this past weekend and just placed my order for a starter hive & initial package of bees that will be ready for us around mid-April.

Not looking to do anything more than maintain a single hive for the moment. But even with just one hive, given the proper oversight and care, you can yield 60+ lbs of honey by end of the season. I'm thinking you might see honey in future troop auctions, Secret Santa gifts and herfs. We're not doing this to produce a lot of honey, but as a fat guy with a sweet tooth, I'm not going to complain if we do.

Always been interested in honey bees, and recently their populations have been dwindling. As one of the prime pollinators, if the bees go, our food supply is negatively impacted. Again speaking as a fat guy, I need to do my part to ensure the food supply remains robust.

Plus I already have the smoking part of bee keeping down. I just may opt to blow some ERDM Choix their way instead of whatever the hell it is they put in the bee smoker.

Will keep this thread updated with what I am sure will be an (occasionally comical) adventure.

Interesting, Vin! I think that the fear of getting stung and crying like a baby outweighs the potential benefit for me personally at this point, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how this progresses and watching you make some tasty honey!

That's great Vin. Check with your tax person. You may qualify as a farm and have hugely reduced property tax. I red Jon Bon Jovi keeps bees at his huge mansion in NJ. His property tax was reduced from 10's of thousands to 500 bucks a year. That's more money for cigars.

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"You stink like cigars Uncle Kitty!" Said my Boo age 3.
"Kid, take care of your family and the hell with anyone else" My Grandpa Bubba.

Interesting, Vin! I think that the fear of getting stung and crying like a baby outweighs the potential benefit for me personally at this point, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how this progresses and watching you make some tasty honey!

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Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
-John Wooden

As another fat guy I'd like to thank you for doing your part in ensuring the food flows! I bee-lieve that our entire food chain relies on bees, not just part of it, also growing up in FL we went to a bee farm and they used pine needles in the smoke guns, now with legalization in MA you can kick it up a notch for them. A side not you can do much with the wax as well. Best of luck on your unbeelievable new adventure.

I looked into bee keeping here in Maryland and attended an 8 week class on it taught by local bee keepers and decided against it. We have a very short nectar season and hive losses around 50 - 80% each year. The one suggestion that they did make was to have a minimum of 2 hives so you can evaluate how they are doing by comparing hives. Good luck and I hope you do well with this.

I almost think that you should just let them keep all their honey, at least to the point where you end up with more
than one hive. Then maybe start taking some for daddy. I don't know if anyone really knows just how to keep the
bees around forever when they can't figure out what's really going on yet. In any case, you are a guy that goes over-
board to be kind, I am sure it will work out.